


A Very Stark Industries Christmas

by MurphysScribe



Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Avengers 2012
Genre: #coulsonlives, Christmas, Holidays, holiday party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurphysScribe/pseuds/MurphysScribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A snapshot of the Stark Industries Holiday Party</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Stark Industries Christmas

Pepper lifted a flute of champagne from a passing waiter's tray and  
headed for the sweep of the spiral staircase on the far side of the  
room, with the kind of determination that let her run a Fortune 500  
company, or say no to Tony's schemes on a regular basis. Once at her  
destination, she sat on the wide expanse of the stairs, sweeping her  
deep blue skirts around her, and discreetly toeing off her shoes. They  
didn't pinch- she might be the only woman in the United States with a  
bespoke, no, engineered pair of Louboutin's, thanks to Tony's 3D  
Printer, and a shoe designer with a giddy, geeky engineering streak.  
But, it still felt nice to wiggle her toes under the expanse of her  
satin skirts. She'd been standing for a while.

  
She watched the party guests.  
Steve and Darcy were swing dancing with great enthusiasm and skill,  
with leaps and holds and dips that had cleared them a space on the  
floor. The grin on Steve's face seemed to reach for decades in either  
direction, and made an answering fond smile stretch across Pepper's  
face. Pepper heard Thor's voice cutting in and out of the music, and  
tracked him to a knot of SI employees, held rapt by his stories. She'd  
get up in a little while and check to make sure that he hadn't offered  
mead to any of the mortals- for now, they all looked only  
proportionally tipsy. Best to keep an eye on that, though.  One small  
mercy- having Thor here meant it was a mistletoe-free gathering. (Some  
unfortunate family history there- seeing sprigs of it made Thor moody,  
rather than festive, and having someone who owned an invincible hammer  
get morose wasn't something Stark Industry was insured for.) Pepper  
mentally crossed "order fruit basket for Human Resources" off the  
post-party triage list.  
  
She saw winking flashes of metal and sharp motions coming from the  
direction of the bar- Clint had gotten himself behind the bar, and was  
making cocktail shakers and bottles whirl as though they were circus  
pins- the bartenders she'd actually hired as catering staff were  
watching, slack-jawed. Further down the bar, Tony was gesticulating  
expansively to Fury, about some scheme or other. Fury was turned away  
from him, but Pepper could just about imagine the corner of his mouth  
quirking in the slightest of grins before he shut Stark's latest idea  
down cold.  
She could see writing and diagrams on the napkins spread out on the  
bar. Good. Tony would keep busy for a while.  
  
She saw a flash of red hair at the edge of the crowd. Natasha was  
dancing, with the simple grace she did everything. With... Sitwell?  
Huh. Go figure. it was good, Pepper supposed, a sign the team had come  
to accept the man who'd been in a tough position for a few months,  
there.

  
To Pepper's further surprise, another man cut in, and Sitwell  
surrendered to Bruce, who ducked his head sheepishly, in response to  
Natasha's radiant smile.  
They whirled away. Looked like Bruce was an excellent dancer. Pepper  
would have to seek him out when she got her shoes back on.  
  
Another familiar figure emerged from the crowd. Phil Coulson was  
wearing a Santa hat tilted at a rakish angle. She patted the step  
beside her, scooting over to make a little more room. When Coulson  
came nearer, she offered a hand to help him negotiate easing himself  
down, leaning a little heavily on the cane Darcy had wound with red  
and green tinsel.  
"How's your night?"  
He grinned. "Nothing's exploding, nobody's attacking... Everyone's  
having a great time." He pulled a flask from an inside pocket of his  
suit. "And Thor's mead," he said solemnly "is better than Vicodin." He  
offered her the flask.

  
"Phil!" she gasped, laughing. Though, in fairness, if anyone could  
handle Thor's mead besides an Asgardian god, it would be the Agent who  
had come back from an Asgardian death.  
"Oh, that's not what's in the flask," he assured her. "Lagavulin. 12  
Year. Part of my Christmas present from Tony."

Pepper took a peaty, warm sip. A thoughtful present, and delicious.  
This year, Tony had bought all the Avengers' presents himself. Or made  
them. She smiled fondly. He'd made dinner for the two of them. Simple  
pasta, nice wine, and just the two of them- even JARVIS had been  
offline. "Wow." she said, and handed it back.

  
"I'm glad you're here," she said, fiercely and with feeling. She  
bumped her shoulder against his in a fond gesture. "I'm glad we're all  
here."  
"Absolutely," Phil said.  
He raised his flask. "God bless us, every one."  
Then, he looked down at the cane beside him. "Oh Christ, I did not  
just say that." He started giggling. With high pitched, breathless  
noises. That got Pepper started, laughing so hard she was snorting and  
laughing so hard she didn't care.  
They leaned against each other, as the party whirled at their feet,  
both laughing almost too hard to breathe.


End file.
